In this article, Rob Davie, vice president & general manager, global clinical development at Covance, shares his thoughts on career ownership, the benefits of our global culture and our competitive advantage.

No two days are ever the same

Rob Davie didn’t originally plan to stay at Covance for 19 years and counting. He first joined Covance after working with a large pharmaceutical company and planned to eventually return to the pharma industry after gaining knowledge and experience with a global contract research organization (CRO).

“I found that I like the variety that the job brings,” says Davie. “With the challenges we face, no two days are ever the same. Although I have been here 19 years and advanced through various positions in operations, it has truly been the most rewarding of jobs for me.”

Making a difference

“I’m not a PhD or a physician,” says Davie, “but I have never felt like there is a glass ceiling to limit my career growth. I’ve always known that I can make a difference and I especially appreciate the opportunity to connect back to the science.”

Davie also notes that “with massive changes in the industry, there has never been a more exciting time to work in healthcare. From more personalized medicine through the human genome projects to immuno-oncology, the opportunities are endless. I’m excited to be part of a team which partners with companies both big and small to help them lead and shape these changes.”

Thriving in a supportive, global culture

Davie attributes his job satisfaction to leaders that have worked with him throughout his career. “I’ve experienced really great managers that have allowed me to make decisions and given me support. That doesn’t mean that we don’t challenge each other. Rather, we challenge with respect.”

“I also see how our teams work well together, especially with our degree of globality. We have a good mix of international teams which helps us understand the complexities and needs of the different geographies. These attributes allow us to harness talent from anywhere in the world.”

Spearheading new initiatives

One of Davie’s most memorable accomplishments involved the early design of the Covance approach to risk-based monitoring (RBM). “With a very new expectation from regulatory agencies, many companies were trying to establish their position with RBM. I was proud that Covance started from a perspective of quality and patient safety coupled with data and regulatory compliance. I’ve since moved on from the project but have watched the team develop and progress to winning industry awards. It’s very satisfying to see how we use our Covance designed methodology to enable trials and protect patients.”

Our competitive advantage

With Covance as a part of LabCorp and the recent acquisition of Chiltern, Davie is excited about how the business is expanding. “I see LabCorp and Covance as a dynamic organization with intentions to grow, which means our employees gain new opportunities as well. Along with our own central lab data from the Xcellerate® Informatics Suite and de-identified patient data from LabCorp, we have a valuable data trove that gives us an advantage over our competitors.”

Davie shared a recent example where he was extraordinarily proud to see one of our biggest competitive advantages at work, our people. “We delivered on a challenging timeline and were able to exceed our original goals, potentially helping life-changing medicine get to market faster. I like knowing that at Covance we are positively impacting the lives of people throughout the world – that’s what truly motivates me each day.”

To learn more about life at Covance and explore career opportunities, visit careers.covance.com.